Fanfic / The Rise Of Golus

Our first major arc...big deal.

The first "arc" and episodes 6-10 of the Review Team series.

When a monstrous Golem rises in New York, the Review Team is sent to destroy it. However, they fail. Utterly. Sir, however, has a trick up his sleeve and he hires 3 new characters to deal with a problem that's gone semi-worldwide.

The Decepticon Starscream, the crazed Meta-Ridley, the melancholy Squidward, the Wizard of Coradai Gwonam, and (eventually) the unicorn mage Twilight Sparkle have outta be ready for one heck of a rumble. Else, there will be only rubble.

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The Tropes Have Come For Us All:

• A Good Name for a Rock Band: Squidward thinks that the name Dark Energon sounds like a name for a desperate metal band.
• A Million Is a Statistic: Aside from the start of Golus's awakening, we never see any pedestrian get harmed in the fight. Either they evacuated or they're trapped as well.
• Accidental Pervert: Z-Squared wakes up just to see Marceline without her shirt in Part 4.
  • Screams Like a Little Girl: Rather than leer, he does this and apologizes.
  • Ignore The Fan Service: He even calls it pointless.
• Ascended Meme: Meta-Ridley shouts "ALLAHU AKBAR!!!" when he fires his missiles at Golus. Golus, when he finally snaps, also gets triggered.
  • Also, most of what Gwonam says.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Part 4 does this to Squidward and especially Gwonam. The former due to the fact that he realizes he can never have a quite life and the latter because he knows his game was a failure and the subject of YTP related ridicule.
• Affably Evil: Despite being intent on destroying the city due to some outside influence, Golus is perfectly happy building random things out of rubble and trying to fly...or something. He's not exactly smart.
• Affectionate Nickname: This is the first time Z-Squared calls Marceline 'Marce'.
• Agony of the Feet: Two of Meta-Ridley's toes get torn off when the construct of Scorpius is being formed. This gives it the ability to actually hurt the dragon.
• Alas, Poor Villain: In the end, Golus was destructive, but innocent at heart. So much so, that the only reason he goes ape in the end is because Sir broke his toys.
• All Men Are Perverts: Meta-Ridley, when the orb rises, tries to type in that the orb created some babes. His sane voice calls him out on it on the grounds that he's married. It brings him out of that thought.
  • Z-Squared averts this in Part 4 rather humorously.
• Almighty Idiot: Golus has shades of this, ESPECIALLY when he goes into his final form.
• Alpha Strike: The moment the weak-point of Golus is revealed in the semi-final battle is the moment where everyone fires their weapons at the same time right at it.
  • Twilight fires a magical beam of death.
  • Starscream and Meta-Ridley fire their missile weapons.
• An Ice Person: The Ice-Bear construct. It can also shoot icicles from the mouth.
• And This Is for...: Against the terrorists, Meta-Ridley's funny voice cries out...
  "THIS IS FOR 9-11!"
• Asleep in Class: Z-Squared mentions he's fallen asleep watching the films Sir has the team review. He is apologetic about this due to most of the material being high art.
• Angst Nuke: Golus and Squidward's transformations are flashy, but not as destructive as most examples.
  • Traumatic Superpower Awakening: In Golus's case. Sir destroyed his favorite toy.
• Attack Its Weakpoint: The Review Team, while Golus is recovering from his powerful attack against Marceline, discovers the core is keeping him together. Too bad they don't get much of a chance to hit it, though.
  • In fact, all Constructs have this flaw.
  • Golus, however, manages to survive, even with extreme damage to his weakpoint.
• Autobots, Rock Out!: What better way to end the arc than with this track?
  • Psyche! Turns out, this is the final track.
• Badass Adorable: Cerberus is a pug fighting for the sake of his master...
  • Killer Rabbit: ...by injecting his foes with flame-whips that pump a lava-like substance into them
  • For big dog lovers, we have Aslan the Great Pyrenees.
• Badass Boast / Pre-Mortem One-Liner: From Starscream as everyone readies their weapons.
  "HEAR THIS, CREATURE! REMEMBER US AS THE STARSCREAM BRIGADE!"
  • Another boast from earlier comes from Meta-Ridley when he's called a "cross between a monkey and your childhood nightmares" by Marceline. Although, it's claimed by his serious voice that he just made that up.
  "M-monkey...I'M META-RIDLEY! EMPEROR OF HELL!"
  • Twilight immediately says they didn't agree on that, but Starscream tells her not to ruin the mood.
• Badass Decay: Discussed in-universe. Z-Squared laments the fact that several of the characters here got reduced to Sir Cinemacus's lackeys.
• Badass Normal: Squidward finally becomes this in the final part.
  • And THEN he gains super-powers.
• Bears Are Bad News: The Ice Bear construct.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted with Marceline. The lightning-strike-like attack Golus gave her tentacle form is still there in the form of a hideous scar on her back. It causes Fluttershy to sternly tell Golus to apologize.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Then again, she does take her shirt off to show it.
• Berserk Button: If you value your city, DON'T break Golus's toys.
• Big Applesauce: New York is where the battle/rampage takes place.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: Of the scorpion type for Scorpius.
• Big Damn Heroes: Fofo the Harpy Eagle helps out Starscream out of his predicament with Scylass.
  • Cerberus and Aslan follow suite in the following parts, although the last one was merely a way to quicken the end of the last orb.
  • When the brigade is finally sent to help the team, it comes off like this.
• Big Friendly Dog: Aslan the Great Pyrenees.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Aside from the Wattersons (Read: Meta-Ridley's company), Marceline and Twilight agree that Sir and Z-Squared's relationship is...strained.
  • To say nothing of the super-powered pets Z-Squared keeps, who are varying degrees of destructive. They seemed tamed, though.
• Bittersweet Ending: Part 4 ends with another destroyed orb and a new ally, but Golus is revealed to be nothing more than a child-like being that strives for something in the sky.
  • The ending of the arc as a whole has Golus defeated, the Team saved, New York rebuilt, and Squidward with a slew of abilities. However, Gwonam is dead and Golus turned out to be akin to a confused child. Also, there are far worse things to come, given that the series is far from over...
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: Not really severe like earlier examples, but it still counts considering what our heroes had to go through.
  • The End: Meta-Ridley pulls down one of these.
  • The End... Or Is It?: The Great Evil appears to be awakening...
• Blatant Lies: When Godzilla recalls when he was young and chaotic, he states that he was unstoppable. He sounds unnerved, though, because of what REALLY happened.
• Brain Bleach: When Z-Squared learns that Jersey Shore hasn't been cancelled yet.
• Bullying a Dragon: See below.
• But Thou Must!: Mr. Freeze feels like he should help, for he feels drawn to the disaster.
  • Also, Gwonam's ordeal.
• Call-Back: To the battle with Voodoo Justin and Satan (which Marceline considered a big disappointment).
  • Marceline claims that New York, thanks to Golus, looks depressing and not in the good way.
  • Gwonam is fond of stating that people should go "with many blessings". This was his final quote in the game aside from the ending cut-scene.
  • Later, Meta-Ridley manages to recognize Squidward when they meet again.
  • Earlier, when Z-Squared goes to get the groceries, he worries a crazy cult will jump him. See the above example.
  • Squidward mentions that one time he had to rebuild Bikini Bottom.
  • Ridley compares the desert to his son's (Darwin, to be specific) short-lived love life with Masami.
  • The entire snowball scene is lifted (and modified) from Crash: Twinsanity.
  • When Squidward sees the sun rising in the final part, he says it reminds him of a certain escapade.
  • Also, he mentions his ancestor.
  • Earlier in the final part, he mentions he's got TWO lovely ladies waiting for him. Indeed, they are Laura and Clarinet.
  • Godzilla remembers when he was a destructive and confused child before. The thing is...
  • Squidward, while showing off his new optimism, says, begrudgingly, that acting like the pioneers of old also counts.
  • When Golus petrifies the Review Team, Discord bemoans his familiar fate.
• The Cameo: Steve the Vehicon.
• Celibate Hero: Z-Squared is revealed to be a very tame version, as he does find Marceline shirtless to be hot, but he screams like a little girl and hides his eyes behind his sword.
• The Chosen Zero: It's made clear that these are the...odd choices for heroes.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Z-Squared claims to have this when he saves a family from being crushed by Golus.
• Clip Its Wings: Golus uses his shrapnel to down Fluttershy and Mr. Freeze. It doesn't bring down Mothra, but the lightning does.
  • This also ends up happening to Meta-Ridley upon his own violation due to him forgetting to charge them.
• Coincidental Broadcast: The rampage of Golus manages to hit the news rather quickly, alerting both teams of heroes.
  • News Travels Fast
• Collapsing Lair: When Meta-Rildey destroys the prayer room where the orb is at.
• Combat Tentacles: Aside from Scylass, Squidward gains these in his transformed state.
• Covers Always Lie: Before it was redone, the first part's cover depicted Sir looking upon a shadow of Golus. At no point does Sir ever fight Golus nor is the shadow effect isn't really convincing us that's a golum.
• Crossing the Desert: Meta-Ridley, Squidward, and Gwonam have to do this to get to the terrorists.
• Cue the Sun: When our heroes reach the top of the Empire State Building in the final part, there's a rising sun.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Golus against the Review Team, though they put up a heck of a fight.
  • Fofo against Scylass, marginally.
  • Cerberus against Scorpius.
  • Aslan against the Ice Bear.
  • Golus's final form against the Review Team.
  • More or less the Brigade and transformed Squidward against Golus's new form.
• Dark Reprise: When Golus rampages in his new form, a metal remix of his theme plays.
• Darkest Hour: When Golus enters his final form out of rage, everything goes to Hell. The Review Team is turned to stone, the city is further destroyed, Gwonam is mortally wounded, and Squidward can just stare in hopelessness as the city burns.
• David vs. Goliath: 11 really small, but powerful, individuals against a massive powered golum.
  • Later, it's 5 of them against it.
• Deadpan Snarker: Plenty of moments, prominently from Starscream and Squidward. Gwonam even joins in on the fun.
• Deus ex Machina: An in-universe example occurs when Cerberus the pug comes in to save Meta-Ridley and company. The dragon calls him a "good little Deus Ex Machina" for that.
  • An earlier example is Fofo swooping in to save Starscream.
• Death Glare: Sir gives Marceline one of these when she makes a joke about the desolation of New York.
  • Starscream's response to that 'heels' comment from Meta-Ridley, even with a little 'shut up!'.
  • Mothra gives one to Godzilla 2000 in the final part due to him saying that there's no room on Monster Island for poor Golus.
• Desolation Shot: We see that, before the Review Team could get there, New York has been totaled.
• Destructible Projectiles: Some pieces of rubble Golus flings at the end are destroyed by Starscream and Twilight.
  • Later, it's hordes of boulders that get destroyed left and right.
• Dirty Coward: Marceline appears to have ran away when the battle got really bad. Subverted when she rises from the ground in her tentacle monster form.
  • Sir doesn't even bother helping his teammates, but that's because he's stupid. We think.
• Disappears into Light: Golus does this in a rather...interesting way as he dies peacefully.
• Disney Villain Death: Seemingly, Golus goes out this way when his orb fails while he's in mid-air. He survives, but just barely.
• Do Not Adjust Your Set: In the middle of the 'previously on' segment, Meta-Ridley takes over.
• Downer Ending: The first part ends with Review Team and Z-Squared are trapped with Golus, as well as a devastated New York. The giant could also wake up at any minute. Sir is left to mourn.
  • Bittersweet Ending: We all know this is only the first part, obviously. It evens ends with a quote reminding Sir about a plan of his.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Z-Squared does this with a Sobe drink when he laments the existence of the team.
• Drugs Are Bad: Meta-Ridley gets hooked on cocaine for a moment in the arc.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Meta-Ridley brings this up in regards to Starscream.
  • Finn also catches on.
• Dude, Not Funny!: An In-Universe example. Marceline takes some joy is seeing New York's destruction, but Basil is noticeably ticked off by that. Sir also scolds her.
  • Another example in this fanfic is when Meta-Ridley does his best (on the behest of his voices) to refrain from any Middle Eastern-related jokes.
• Dungeon Bypass: Meta-Ridley isn't even phased by the traps in the terrorist cave. He's just a bit annoyed by his paint job being ruined.
  • Gwonam even manages to dispatch some terrorists with ease.
• Dynamic Entry: Golus reveals himself to the team by bursting through a building.
  • Other examples include his center orb bursting from under the streets and Marceline, in her tentacle form, doing the same.
• Eccentric Mentor: Gwonam, sometimes.
  • Cool Old Guy: Even more so.
• Epic Fail: Meta-Ridley's Plan B against Scorpius? Throw sand at the construct. Understandably, his tail nearly gets sliced for that.
• Escape Sequence: From the collapsing cave in part 3.
• Elemental Powers: Gwonam has control over any body of water.
  • Making a Splash
  • Kill It with Water
• Energy Absorption: Gwonam bestows Squidward with his power before he begins to die, giving Squidward the power to help defeat Golus.
• Eviler than Thou: Discord considers Meta-Ridley to be crazier than him.
• Explosion Propulsion: Starscream and the sub are victims of this. The sub is destroyed, but he lives through, albeit unconscious.
• Exposed to the Elements: Our heroes is still in their usual wear, even Squidward, when they land in the Himalayas. Squidward and Gwonam take it the hardest.
• Extendo Boxing Glove: The sub has this ability and Starscream uses it to pummel Scylass. The creature, however, tears it off and crushes it.
• Face Palm: Z-Squared does this in Part 1 after a choice remark from Sir.
  • Sir then does it in Part 2 due to Starscream's complaining.
• Face-Revealing Turn: Golus turns his headlights onto Z-Squared, apparently needing to target him because of an agenda.
• Faux Horrific: Sir turns on the alarm because they have ran out of New York's famous pizza bagels.
• Fingore: Meta-Ridley considers chopping off Sir's hands because they're so big.
• Fear Is the Appropriate Response: After Starscream's cog is damaged and it's assessed that Golus has a protective block to protect his core, Meta-Ridley still rallies them up for a fight. Smash cut to them running for their lives.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: The insides of the pincers of Scorpius have flamethrowers in them.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Steve the Vehicon.
• Floating Head Syndrome: The main poster, as helpfully shown above.
• Formula-Breaking Episode: Meta-Ridley and his voices narrate the third part.
• Friendship Moment: Plenty of moments. Particularly between Z-Squared and Marceline, as well as Gwonam and Squidward.
• Gatling Good: Scorpius has a machine gun replacing his stinger.
• Gentle Giant: When he's not destroying the city, Golus is happily playing with rubble on Fluttershy's request.
• Giant Wall of Watery Doom: Squidward, in his transformed state, uses one of these against Golus. It pins him down for a final punch to the core.
• Glory Seeker: No pun intended, but Starscream can be this sometimes.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Golus gives off this effect on the first cover.
• Go Mad from the Isolation: The Review Team seems to be suffering this from their time in the prison.
• Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: The snowball the group find themselves in Part 4 ends up going off a cliff, though they survive. It's what causes Starscream to integrate into the mass, however.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: Gwonam lampshades that no-one in their respective home-worlds will truly know of the fight against Golus.
  • However, Meta-Ridley is seen telling his kids of the tale in the end.
• Ground Pound: Z-Squared is nearly crushed by Golus' fist. Discord is then hit, but then it all plays out like a certain scene. It even distracts Golus for a while.
• Handicapped Badass: Starscream may still have some power, but his cog has been damaged by Golus in the final part.
  • Also, from Part 3 onwards, Gwonam is without his flying carpet. So is Meta-Ridley without his wings until sometime into Part 5.
• Hookers and Blow: The Strip Joint in Part 4.
• Hostile Show Takeover: Meta-Ridley pulls a benign version when he takes over the narration of Part 3.
• How We Got Here: The whole thing is revealed to have been told by Meta-Ridley to his kids. The story did happen, though.
• I'm Melting!: Happens to the Ice-Bear shell around the second orb when Aslan conducts volts directly on top of him.
• Improvised Lightning Rod: The force field generates a bolt that electrifies Golus' shrapnel arm.
• Indy Ploy: The Randomizer guarantees this.
• Indy Escape: Flipped on its head in Part 4. The giant snowball (which has engulfed Squidward and Gwonam) immediately engulfs the rest, while Starscream gets on top of the ball for a while. He is engulfed as well later on.
• Intellectual Animal: The 3 pets. Mostly Fofo, due to being the more serious of the trio.
• It's Snowing Cocaine: In Part 4, the Strip Club that the team break through in a giant snowball houses mounds of this. It's even referred to as "Snow that cooks sniff up their nose". Meta-Ridley, in particular, takes a liking to it.
  • Drugs Are Good: How he sees it.
• Jump Scare: Starscream enters a dark cave and then turns on the light...revealing a monstrous beak.
  • Happens again in Part 5 when the elevator suddenly stops before the Brigade can finish their song.
  Meta-Ridley: "I take it this is our stop."
• Killed Mid-Sentence: Gwonam by Golus's fist.
  • Not Quite Dead: He does manage to help the heroes and make a speech before passing away.
• Killer Rabbit: Cerberus the Pug as his heat tentacles demonstrate.
• "King Kong" Climb: Well, Golus, in the final part, just floats to the top of the Empire State Building. Maybe it still counts?
• Laser-Guided Karma: Discord, trying to slack off helping the others deal with Golus, is punched into the ground by a reawakened Golus. Not that he feels much pain. He's the first to be struck down, though, by eye lasers and THEN a concrete fist.
  • Sir didn't join the fight because he wanted to eat his pizza bagels from earlier. Adding to that, in the final part, he FURTHER angered Golus into becoming his final form and caused Gwonam's death and much damage. Everyone promptly beats him up.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Attempted by Starscream in Part 2 when he finds out his sub has combat capabilities, but said abilities are trounced by Scylass soon afterward.
  "SLAG-SUCKING PIT SPAWN!!!"
• Life Isn't Fair: Turns out, Gwonam secretly has this philosophy alongside Squidward. Getting ridiculed by Youtubers clearly got to him.
• Line in the Sand: The Review Team members that wish to fight Golus immediately step forward in agreement. Marceline, Godzilla, Mr. Freeze, and Discord only step forward because why not. Megatron is hesitant until Sir says that he thinks he's scared.
• The Load: Squidward until later.
• Love Will Lead You Back: Squidward accepts the mission when he hears that Laura anticipates his return. Meta-Ridley does mention that his own family is a good motivation.
• Matchlight Danger Revelation: A variant occurs in the second part. Things go pitch black in the underwater cave, so Starscream has to find the button that turns on a light. Cue Scylass attack.
• Meaningful Name: Screamer-Sub, a name made of the fly for its pilot. Sigh.
  • Scorpius the Golus Construct.
• Mechanical Monster: Meta-Ridley, but also Scorpius.
• Megaton Punch: Squidward, while transformed, does this against Golus's final form, finally ending the battle.
• Monumental Damage: The Empire State Building does take some damage in the final part. Subverted when the city rebuilds itself.
• Most Common Card Game: Godzilla and Basil are playing "invisible" Go-Fish before our heroes arrive.
• Mundane Utility: The controls for the sub are basically components of a Spin N' Say toy.
• My Car Hates Me: A family attempting to escape Golus has their children stuck in a car. Z-Squared helps them out of this situation.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Sir has this reaction near the end of Part 1.
• Mythology Gag: Megatron remarkes that he would rather stick an Autobot symbol on his chest than help humanity.
  • Also, Meta-Ridley is forced to use the same strategy as most Metroid bosses are dealt with.
• Nepotism: Sir indulges in this when he wants Z-Squared to kill Golus when he's down.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sir's insistence on angering Golus even further causes unimaginable disaster.
• No Ontological Inertia: The city just magically comes back together after Golus is destroyed. Even Meta-Ridley's crazy voice lampshades this.
• Noble Bird of Prey: Fofo is a cold and merciless Harpy Eagle, but she values her allies lives.
• Non Fatal Explosion: The blast does destroy the orb, but Starscream and Scylass are just unconscious.
• Noodle Incident: The last time Sir used the Randomizer was when he teleported 3 evil warlords to his location.
  • Also, he and Gwonam met at one point. The wizard isn't exactly fond of the next time they meet due to the fact that he was only paid in ring-pops instead of rupees last time.
• Not Quite Dead: Both Scorpius and the Ice-Bear pull this on the group. The Ice-Bear didn't even get injured by the last attempt at its life.
• Oh, Crap!: Several times, but the most prominent (and hilarious example) is the cover of Part 4.
• One-Winged Angel: Scorpius's orb becomes a massive ball of fire when the chips are down.
  • In the final part, [[spoiler: Golus becomes a gargantuan spider/stegosaurus/club-tailed/demon thing. Squidward, thanks to Gwonam, becomes the Kraken.
• Only in It for the Money: Predictably, Meta-Ridley, especially because of the fact Sir will pay him better than the bounty he was going to turn in.
  • However, it is a bit noble since he is also enthusiastic about saving the world (while causing wanton destruction, of course) AND funding Gumball's science project.
  • An earlier example is when Marceline admits that the whole Review Team thing is bull, but at least the pay is good.
• Panthera Awesome: The Ice Bear has the teeth of a Smilodon.
• Police Are Useless: Inverted. Yes, the police are helpless against Golus but can you blame them?!
• Product Placement: Z-Squared chugs down a Sobe drink to take the blues away during Part 1.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Golus LOSES IT when Sir breaks his toy spaceship.
  Z-Squared: "Take a child, make him 300 times bigger, and unleash him upon the world after you broke his toys. That's what we're about to get."
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis! / Punctuated Pounding: Squidward delievers this when he kicks away at the cables that keep Golus's protective chest stable.
  "I JUST! WANT! TO GO! HOME!!!"
• Punny Name: Screamer Sub, in particular.
• Puny Humans: Marceline considers saving humanity not her top priority, though this may have to do with her aloof attitude rather than outright distaste for mankind.
  • Megatron, however, has this mindset for a while.
  • As does Starscream, for obvious reasons.
• Purple Is Powerful: A recurring theme, as it shows the power of Golus.
• Put on a Bus: The pets when Golus enters his final form. Lampshaded by Meta-Ridley when they arrive again.
• Readings Are Off the Scale: Twilight, even after Golus has seemingly vanished, can still sense his newfound power. It's "off the charts".
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Z-Squared when Golus forms and starts to attack. He stops to help a few civilians, however.
• Seen It All: Z-Squared, after some thought, doesn't consider the coming of Golus to be any weirder than Satan's arrival.
• Serious Business: Running out of pizza bagels is this to Sir.
• Shadow Discretion Shot: The first two posters.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Marceline removes her shirt to show Fluttershy the hideous scar Golus gave her on her back. She doesn't mind due to it just being she and the pegasus being awake. Even when Z-Squared does awaken, she doesn't mind (though she does put the shirt back on).
• Ship Tease: Even more of this between Z-Squared and Marceline.
• Shout-Out: Some of the jokes fall into this, but a particular instance is when Gwonam picks up Meta-Ridley. You know the scene...
• Slasher Smile: Dear God, does Meta-Ridley have one on the cover of Part 3.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Tafeli appears briefly throughout the arc, yet it's his idea that sets the resolution in motion.
• Shock and Awe: Aslan the Great Pyrenees can fire circular volts of lightning from himself. He can also conduct electricity.
  • Golus can also conduct electricity. When he transforms, he can fire it from his maw.
• Shoot Out the Lock: More like "blow out" the lock, as Aslan does with his lightning bolt attack to break into the Empire State Building at the end.
• Some Kind of Force Field: Golus creates one to trap the members and recharge with no interruptions.
  • This, however, renders him very limited in mobility and his chargers for such are at the mercy of anything that comes their way. Not that they aren't well equipped...
• Soundtrack Dissonance: When the Scorpius construct is complete, the battle theme is...Ai No Uta from Super Smash Bros Brawl. An outraged Meta-Ridley demands the music be changed. It is.
• The Starscream: Who do you think?! Our plucky fellow even considers doing it at the beginning, though he's afraid if Megatron will return shortly after he takes control. However, this is all a result of him losing faith in his return and inability to destroy the Autobots rather than have the bulk of it be his own desires. Subverted, we guess?
• Super-Persistent Predator: The Ice Bear just won't quit until the bitter end.
• Sword over Head: Golus raises his energy sword high into the air and then strikes down Marceline's tentacled form.
• Take That!: Against Jersey Shore and Miley Cyrus in the first part.
  • The noisiness of New York is brought up.
  • Van Kilmer's career is also mocked by Gumball in the third part. So is Detroit, terrorism, and Donald Trump.
• "Take That!" Kiss: Meta-Ridley to Gwonam, Bugs Bunny style. In front of his wife. Thankfully, he explains himself.
• Taken for Granite: Golus gains this ability in his final form. He can fire a beam that can turn anything to stone. He does this against the Review Team and only misses Twilight Sparkle and Sir.
• Talk to the Fist: When Squidward has transformed, his first action is to punch Golus in the face.
• Team Pet: 3 of them, in fact! Fofo the Harpy Eagle, Cerberus the Pug, and Aslan the Great Pyrenees.
• Tempting Fate: When Golus is being blasted left and right by everyone, Discord taunts him. The chaos being is later shot out of the sky by the creature's eye lasers.
  • Starscream, in the final part, doesn't think a hunk of rock (Golus) will be a problem. Uh...right.
• That Didn't Happen: Meta-Ridley's fantasy in Part 3.
• This Is a Drill: Scorpius's feet. They even injure Meta-Ridley.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Starscream and Squidward's attitudes.
  • Also, Meta-Ridley's sane voice at times.
• Thou Shall Not Kill: Squidward.
• To Be Continued: Carries on until Part 5.
• Too Much Information: Meta-Ridley has a habit of doing this.
• Tragic Monster: As the story goes on, Golus is gradually revealed to be less and less malicious. He's decidedly melancholy for some reason in Part 4.
  • Confirmed in Part 5. When he's not destroying, he's crying over the prospect of dying. He gets better when he truly does die, comforted by Fluttershy.
• Uncomfortable Elevator Moment: Our heroes take the elevator to get to the top of the Empire State building in the end and they end up singing "Fly Me to the Moon" (the song Meta-Ridley and Nicole adore).
• Under the Sea: A good portion of 'Screamer Sub'.
• Undesirable Prize: Sir's compensation prize for the Review Team...tickets at a yard sale.
  Basil: "I expected nothing and I'm still dissapointed."
  • Standard Hero Reward: On the other hand, he gives medals to the Brigade.
• Versus Character Splash: The poster of the final part.
• Viking Funeral: Gwonam is given one as a sign of respect.
• Villainous Valor: Before falling apart in Part 5, Golus knocks everyone off the tower. Doesn't kill them, though.
  • Doesn't kill HIM either...
• What Would X Do?: Meta-Ridley defends himself when Nicole accuses him (rightfully so) of eating all the meatloaf with this excuse. Namely, "What would Jesus do?". He lies that he turned it into a fish.
  • Later, in the final part, he wonders what Mac Guyver would do.
• Wide Eyes and Shrunken Irises: The Review Team and the Brigade have this expression when Gwonam is unexpectedly crushed by Golus's new form.
• Wings Do Nothing: Unless you charge them. Sorry, Meta-Ridley.
• Work Off the Debt: It's implied Gwonam is doing this in Coradai, hence why he has connections to the King.
• Worf Had the Flu: Meta-Ridley can't fly because he forgot to charge his wings back at home.
• World-Wrecking Wave: Not really that big, but, as a final attack that ultimately tires him out, Golus sends out a kinetic wave that sends the Review Team flying into the side of the force field, which then creates a small prison to entrap them.
• Would Rather Suffer: Megatron says that he would rather stick an Autobot symbol on his chest than help humanity.
• Wrecked Weapon: The extendo boxing glove attachment of the sub.
• You Bastard!: Basil doesn't take it well when Marceline shows excitement upon seeing wanton destruction.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Said by Finn more or less when the team has their communication equipment cut off by Golus.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: The general reaction to the fact that Golus managed to survive the Brigade's first battle against him.
• Zerg Rush: Eventually, EVERYONE does this against Golus in the end.